BiSC project

The Barcelona Life Study Cohort (BiSC) is an exposome birth cohort, aiming to comprehensively evaluate the socio-environmental and genetic determinants (i) of foetal and child health, growth, and development towards adult life and (ii) of maternal mental and physical health and wellbeing during pregnancy and afterwards, while shedding light on the underlying biological mechanisms.

Recruitment and follow-ups

The enrolment of the BiSC participants (n=1080) was carried out between October 2018 and April 2021 at three tertiary university hospitals in Barcelona, Spain, including Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, and Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, and their corresponding primary healthcare centres. BiSC participants were recruited and had their first data collected at the end of the first trimester of pregnancy, with follow-ups in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy, delivery, and months 1, 2, 6, 8, 12, 18, 28, and 48 (ongoing) postnatally.

Data collection

BiSC has collected data on external, personal, and internal exposomes including demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, maternal and child lifestyle, and a large array of exposures and biomarkers together with a wide range of maternal and child mental and physical health and development outcomes. To collect these data, a wide array of sources/methods were applied including face-to-face interviews, online questionnaires, home visits, personal sensors/monitors, hospital records, clinical and physical examinations, imaging techniques including ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and molecular measurements in a wide range of biological samples.

BiSC welcomes external collaborations and provides gated access to its data and biological samples. Information regarding the procedure for data request can be found here.